Hindu group endorses Trump over Harris in US presidential elections

WASHINGTON: Hindus for America First, a newly created grassroots organisation, has announced it will endorse Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and launch a campaign against Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris in the key battleground states of Pennsylvania, Georgia and North Carolina.

Announcing the decision on Thursday, Hindus for America First chairman and founder Utsav Sanduja claimed that Harris would be "very destabilising for Indo-US relations".

"The concern is that if Kamala becomes the president of the United States, then she might put in some liberal wolves on the bench who may actually reverse the Supreme Court on this (and) that impacting the Asian-American voters," he said.

The Biden-Harris administration has not kept the border secure. Harris is the second in command after President Joe Biden and did nothing to stem the flow of illegal immigrants into the US, he said.

"As a consequence of all these illegal immigrants, we've seen record crime, record drug smuggling... and it ends up affecting minority communities, in particular many of the Asian-American business owners," he said.

On the other hand, Sanduja praised Trump's efforts to make the immigration system more merit-based. He also lauded the former president's efforts to bolster defence and technology cooperation with India.

Trump is "very pro-India". He was able to cultivate an excellent relationship with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and collaborate on many defence projects that would enable India to take on China, he said.

Unlike Harris, who made a lot of "disparaging remarks" about the government and people of India, Trump did not interfere in the country's internal affairs, Sanduja said.

"Kamala Harris would be very destabilising for Indo-US relations," he claimed.

He said Hindus for America First is organising efforts among Hindus in battleground states like Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona, and Nevada against Harris.

Sanduja said the global Hindu community is concerned about the attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh.

"We would request all political entities concerned to raise this issue," he said, adding that the Hindus of Bangladesh are suffering.

"I give President Trump a lot of credit. Under his leadership, the State Department acknowledged the persecution of Hindus in various parts of the subcontinent, like in Afghanistan...Pakistan, it was President Trump that took the leadership in acknowledging Hindu genocide," he said.